Protective shield assembly



eb. 27, 1968 A. A. KARLYN 3,370,302

PROTECTIVE SHIELD ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 25, 1966 INVEN'IUR.

5 ALBERT A. KARLYN 36 3 8 ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,37l,3@2PRQTECTIVE SHIELD ASSEMELY Aibert A. Karly n, SI Ridge Road,Wethersfield, Conn. ildlll Filed Feb. 25, I966, Ser. No. 53%,195 IllClaims. (Cl. 2--2.5)

The present invention relates to protective devices, and moreparticularly to a substantially transparent protective shield assemblyfor use by an individual to ward off bodily injury. Recent riots andother violent events in the United States and abroad have clearlydemonstrated the vulnerability of law enforcement officers, militarypersonnel and citizens to injury from clubs, hurled missiles such asstones, bricks and the like, and gunshots as well as to manual blows.These same people are equally vulnerable to injury from the throwing ofacids and other irritants which have been used as weapons by personsparticipating in riots.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel protectiveshield assembly for use by law enforcement ofiicers and others to wardoff bodily injury and which is readily manipulated and substantiallytransparent so as to provide good visibility for the user even when in aposition of maximum protection.

It is also an object to provide such a protective shield which isrelatively light in weight to minimize fatigue and which has a very highdegree of resistance to impact stresses and a high degree oftransparency with substantial freedom from optical distortion.

Another object is to provide such a protective shield which may bereadily and economically manufactured and which is simple to utilize andto maintain.

Still another object is to provide such a protective shield from whichthe user may readily release his arm if the shield is gripped by anadversary and which affords substantial cushioning against impacts.

Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the followingdetailed specification and the attached drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the protective shield assemblyembodying the present invention being utilized by a law enforcementofficer fragmentarily illustrated in phantom line;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of theprotective shield assembly of FIGURE 1 to an enlarged scale with thereleasable coupling in open position;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view thereof; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view to an enlarged scale of a portion ofa strap showing one releasable coupling element.

It has now been found that the foregoing objects and other advantagescan readily be attained in a protective shield assembly for use by anindividual which includes a substantially transparent shield ofrelatively high impact-resistant synthetic plastic material having agenerally curvilinear cross section providing a concave inner surface.Arm-engageable means is mounted on the inner surface of the shieldmember for supporting engagement with the arm of the user and includes areleasable retaining assembly adjacent one side of the shield member forencircling the upper forearm of the user and releasable by a forceacting to pull the shield member away from the arm of the user so as tofree his arm therefrom. Holding means is provided adjacent the otherside of the inner surface of the shield member for engagement with thelower arm of the user for facile manipulation and positioning of theshield assembly.

Although various synthetic plastic materials exhibit 3,37%,392 PatentedFeb. 27, 1968 relatively high impact resistance such as blends ofstyrene-acrylonitrile-butadiene, blends of styrene-acrylatebutadiene,and high density polyethylene, polycarbonates have proven especiallyadvantageous for the present invention because of their very high impactstrength and highly desirable optical properties as well as theirretention of impact strength even at temperatures below 0 Centigrade.Polycarbonate sheet material may be readily thermo-formed into simplecurvilinear configurations without producing excessive internal stressesand affords a relatively lightweight member which may be solvent orflame polished to restore substantially its optical clarity afterscratching'and other minor abrasions. Generally, polycarbonate sheetmaterial employed for this purpose should be about .060.1'67 inch inthickness.

The shield may be a single thickness of sheet material or it may be alaminate of several layers of the same or dissimilar sheet materials. Ifso desired, it may include metallic or other inorganic layers which donot unduly reduce visibility.

By the provision of a transparent shield, the user may observe hissurroundings without obstruction and yet have full protection for hishead and upper body. The transversely curvilinear configuration with theconcave inner surface increases the degree of protection for his armsupporting the shield and also increases the total resilience of theshield and its ability to withstand objects by defleeting them.

The strap is made of flexible material such as leather, rubber, plasticand the like and is preferably adjustable in length to provide a snugfit on the users arm. The releasable connecting means is most desirablya pull-out type snap connector which will release upon the applicationof a predetermined force. The snap connector has a post with a head ofgreater width than the shank and a snap retainer having an aperturetherein receiving the post and resiliently deformable spring meansengaged with the shank behind the head to maintain the post inengagement upon application of a strong force. The head which hascamming surfaces on its outer and inner ends earns the spring means torelease the head from the aperture. The strap is preferably comprised ofthree parts, two parts having end portions attached to the shield andtheir opposite end portions attached to the third part by means of anadjustable buckle and the releasable snap connector. The buckle providesa convenient means for adjusting the retaining means to fit the size ofthe arm of each particular user.

By providing the releasable retaining means, it is possible for the userto release himself from engagement with the shield when an adversaryattacking or resisting the user grasps the shield and attempts to pullor push the user off balance therewith. When the shield is being held byan attacker, the user may release his hold on the hand grip and pull hisarm away from the shield to cause release of the connecting means anddisengagement of the users arm from the shield assembly so that the useris freed therefrom.

The holding means is preferably a rigid hand grip mounted on the innersurface of the shield for manual retention by the user for facilemanipulation and positioning of the shield assembly. A cushion ofresilient material such as foam rubber is provided on the inner surfaceof the shield and extends between the retaining assembly and the holdingmeans to cushion the users arm against the impact of blows delivered tothe outer surface of the shield. Preferably, the cushion extends wellbeyond the retaining assembly and holding means to provide maximumshielding for the users arm.

Referring now in detail to the attached drawing, a protective shieldassembly embodying the present invention includes a substantiallytransparent shield of highly impact-resistant synthetic plastic materialwhich has a generally arcuate transverse cross section forming an impactor outer surface 12 and a concave inner surface 13. A hand grip,generally designated by the numeral M, is fixedly mounted on the innersurface 13 adjacent one side of the shield 10 and has a handle portion15 supported by a pair of mounting brackets 18 which are rigidly connected to the shield 12 by means of fasteners A releasable retainingassembly, generally designated by the numeral 35 is mounted on the innersurface 13 adjacent the opposite side of the shield and has a flexiblestrap 32 which is fixedly attached at one end thereof to the shield 10by means of the fastener 33 and has a conventional buckle 34 attached tothe opposite or free end thereof.

A second flexible strap 36 is fixedly secured at one end thereof to theshield it) by means of the fastener and has an outwardly projecting postor pin mounted on the opposite or free end thereof that has a head 41 ofgreater width than its shank. A third flexible strap 42 has a series oflongitudinally spaced apertures 4-4 on one end thereof for adjustableengagement with the buckle 3d in the usual manner. At its other end, asbest seen in FIG- URE 4, the strap 42 has a releasable snap retainer 5iwhich has an aperture 52 therein and a resiliently deformable springwire 54 positioned so as to extend on opposite sides of the aperture 52and releasably retains the head 41 of the pin when the post 4% isdisposed in the aperture 52. The straps 32, 36 and 4d are made offlexible material such as leather, rubber, plastic or the like.

A cushion of resilient material 56 such as foam rubber is attached onthe inner surface 13 of the shield 1t} and extends between the hand grip14 and the releasable retaining assembly 3d and therebeyond to the sidesof the shield in order to act as a shock absorber to protect the arm andhand of the user against the impact of blows that may be deliveredagainst the outer surface 12 of the shield It).

To employ the shield assembly the user inserts his arm through the loopprovided by the releasable retaining assembly 3d, and manually graspsthe handle portion 16 of the rigidly mounted hand grip 14. The effectivelength of the strap 42 may be adjusted to the girth of the users arm bymeans of the buckle 34 so as to provide firm engagement to support theshield assembly in the manner illustrated in FlGURE 1. Although thespring wire 54 is sufficiently rigid to hold the head 46 securely in theaperture 52 during the normal manipulation of the shield assembly, apredetermined force applied to pull the shield away from the user willcause the head 41 to expand the Wire 54 and effect release therefrom,thus freeing the arm of the user.

Accordingly, the protective shield assembly of this invention provides aprotective shield for law enforcement oficers and others to enable themto ward off bodily injury and which is substantially transparent and isreadily releasable by the user. The transparent shield provides fullviewing by the user of the surrounding area and of attacking persons andhostile missiles coming his way, and its light Weight and the holdingmeans make it possible for the user to quickly place the shield in aprotective position. The releasable means enables the user to readilyabandon the shield assembly when an attacker grasps it and attempts tothrow the user off balance or drag him thereby.

The protective shield provided by this invention is durable inconstruction, transparent with substantial freedom from opticaldistortion and is easy to maintain.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A protective shield assembly for use by an individual comprising: asubstantially transparent shield of relatively high impact-resistantsynthetic plastic material, said shield having a generally curvilineartransverse cross section providing a concave inner surface; andarm-engageablc means mounted on said inner surface of said shieldincluding a releasable retaining assembly for encircling the upperforearm 0f the user, said retaining assembly being releasable by a forceacting to pull said shield away from the arm of the user to free his armtherefrom, and holding means for engagement by the lower arm of the userfor facile manipulation and positioning of said shield assembly.

2. The protective shield assembly of claim 1 wherein said syntheticplastic material is polycarbonate.

3. The protective shield assembly of claim 1 wherein said releasableretaining assembly comprises a pair of flexible straps mounted on saidinner surface of said shield and resiliently coupled releasableconnecting means on overlapping ends of said straps, said connectingmeans being releasable by a force acting to pull said shield away fromthe arm of the user.

4. The protective shield assembly of claim l wherein said holding meansis a rigid hand grip mounted on said inner surface of said shield.

5. The protective shield assembly of claim 1, wherein saidarm-engageable means includes a cushion of resilient material on theinner surface of said shield extending between said retaining assemblyand holding means to cushion the uscrs arm against impacts.

6, The protective shield assembly of claim 3 wherein said connectingmeans comprises a post with a head of greater width than its shank onOne of said straps and a snap retainer on the other of said strapshaving an apcrture receiving said headed post and resiliently deformablespring means engaged with said shank of said post.

7. A protective shield assembly for use by an individual comprising: asubstantially transparent shield of relatively high impact-resistantsynthetic plastic material, said shield having a generally arcuatctransverse cross section providing a concave inner surface; a releasableretaining assembly mounted on said inner surface of said shield forencircling the upper forearm of the user, said retaining assemblyincluding a flexible strap and resiliently coupled releasable connectingmeans releasable by a force acting to pull said shield away from the armof the user; a rigid hand grip mounted on said inner surface of saidshield for manual retention by the user for facile manipulation andpositioning of said shield assembly; and a cushion of rcsilient materialmounted on said inner surface of said shield and extending between saidretaining assembly and said hand grip to cushion the users arm againstimpacts.

8. The protective shield assembly of claim 7 wherein said syntheticplastic material is polycarbonate.

9. The protective shield assembly of claim 7 wherein said flexible strapof said retaining assembly is comprised of a pair of strap elementssecured at one end to said shield and having their other endsoverlapping and wherein said connecting means comprises a post with ahead of greater width than its shank on one of said overlapping ends anda snap retainer on the overlapping end of the other of said strapshaving an aperture receiving said headed post and resiliently deformablespring means cugaged with said shank of said post.

10. The protective shield of claim 7 wherein said cushion extendstransversely of said shield beyond said retainlng assembly and said handgrip.

References Uted UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,140,107 5/1915 Brown.

1,250,197 12/1917 Louppe 22.5

1,314,953 8/1919 Eissler 2-2O 1,510,783 10/1924 Johnson 2-2 2,316,0554/1943 Davey 22.5 XR

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,060,110 11/1953 France.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Iixu/ni/u'r. J. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,370,302 February 27, 1968 Albert A. Karlyn It is hereby certified thaterror appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and thatthe said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the heading to the printed specification, lines 3 and 4, forf'AlbertA. Karlyn, 81 Ridge Road, Wethersfield, Conn. 06109" read Albert A.Karlyn, Wethersfield, Conn. assignor to Rowland Products, Incorporated,Kensington, Conn. a corporation of Connecticut Signed and sealed this6th day of May 1969.

(SEAL) Attest: Q/V Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. W \A/\\/ Attesting Officerommissioner of Patents

1. A PROTECTIVE SHIELD ASSEMBLY FOR USE BY AN IDDIVIDUAL COMPRISING: ASUBSTNATIALLY TRANSPARENT SHIELD OF RELATIVELY HIGH IMPACT-RESISTANTSYNTHETIC PLASTIC MATERIAL, SAID SHIELD